Based on the response to Southeast Construction's most recent Top Specialty Contractors ranking, maybe 2008 wasn’t so bad after all. After all, the annual ranking--which hits the streets August 1--again registered 200 specialty firms from throughout the four-state region of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Also, the collective amount of revenue contained within the list--which is based upon 2008 revenue--went up considerably from the preceding year's ranking, to a record total of roughly $8.5 billion. As that math indicates, many firms reported similar, or better, revenue figures compared to the previous year.

Then again, maybe 2009 is the year when the region’s ongoing downturn really starts to show up on companies’ bottom lines. Time will tell on that score.

As with other contractor lists that Southeast Construction publishes, this one is based on revenue generated during the preceding calendar year. The format of our ranking is again based on regional revenue totals, meaning the volume of work collected in 2008 from projects located within the magazine’s four-state territory.

Readers can view the full ranking soon at www.southeast.construction.com. In addition to the main ranking, we also publish breakout rankings of numerous specialty-contracting categories in the print edition. For now, here's a sneak preview of this year's Top Specialty Contractors ranking. Listed here are the top 50 firms, with their regional revenue total for 2008. All figures are in millions.

1. MasTec, Inc.                                           $557.77
2. SteelFab, Inc.                                         $326.66
3. EMCOR Group, Inc.                                $253.37
4. Miller Electric Company                           $238.48
5. Tri-City Electrical Contractors, Inc.            $190.30
6. United Forming, Inc.                                $173.30
7. Coastal Mechanical Services                    $164.33
8. Cleveland Electric Company                     $159.26
9. Allison Smith, LLC                                  $157.42
10. Acousti Eng. Co. of Fl.                          $154.00
11. Inglett & Stubbs, LLC                            $141.00
12. Tecta America Corp.                             $130.45
13. Precision Walls, Inc.                             $130.00
14. D. H. Griffin Wrecking Co., Inc.              $126.03
15. McGee Brothers Co., Inc.                      $117.19
16. Integrated Electrical Services, Inc.          $115.31
17. Southern Pan Services Company           $113.64
18. Foundation Contractors, Inc.                  $111.69
19. Quinco Electrical, Inc.                           $111.00
20. Baker Roofing Company                        $104.05
21. Gate Precast Company                         $103.25
22. Kearney Companies                              $101.00
23. Tilt-Con Corporation                               $90.00
24. Advanced Roofing, Inc.                           $86.00
25. East Coast Fire Protection, Inc.              $85.21
26. BCH Mechanical, Inc.                            $80.24
27. Southern Industrial Constructors, Inc.      $77.43
28. Capform, Inc.                                         $77.00
29. Quality Concrete of Atlanta, Inc.              $74.25
30. The Circle Group                                    $74.20
31. Ron Kendall Masonry, Inc.                      $72.00
32. H & J Contracting, Inc.                           $69.82
33. Nagelbush Mechanical, Inc.                    $68.00
34. Latite Roofing & Sheet Metal LLC           $67.86
35. Precision Concrete Construction, Inc.     $67.02
36. Enclos Corp.                                         $66.00
37. Ivey Mechanical Company                      $65.40
38. T&T Construction of Central Florida, Inc.  $63.67
39. Wayne J. Griffin Electric, Inc.                 $63.17
40. Vila & Son Landscaping Corp.                $62.58
41. B & I Contractors, Inc.                           $61.75
42. Garney Construction                              $60.22
43. Ace Electric, Inc.                                   $58.85
44. Meisner Electric, Inc. of Florida               $57.77
45. Crowther Roofing & Sheet Metal of FL     $57.40
46. Brooks-Berry-Haynie & Associates         $55.38
47. Action Contractors                                 $53.00
48. Structural Group                                    $52.29
49. Pomeroy Electric Incorporated                $50.19
50. Harper Limbach                                     $49.90

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